How has the pandemic impacted your playing?

The duo I'm currently in hasn't played a show since early 2020 and we don't know when it will start up or whether anyone will start up with live music again.

Following vaccinations we will be seeing what, if anything, is happening. We are about to start up with our distanced "porch recitals" aka rehearsals as soon as the weather is warmer so we will again be entertaining the neighborhood once a week for a couple of hours.

 

Only played two gigs in 2020. Quite a few were canceled, which we all regretted, because it's a new band with new material that went over quite well. Hoping to pick up the thread come summer, but who knows?

 

I definitely had periods of feeling very bummed out about the whole thing, with little motivation. But overall I’ve made progress. I’m a weekend warrior, generally found I had little time to work on anything besides the setlist. During the shutdown, I’ve added a bunch of new songs from my personal wishlist (mostly Motown and 70s funk, some new rock), working on my walking and reading, and adding some new grooves and patterns.

I’ve also picked up an electric guitar and started an online blues course. It’s been a ton of fun and definitely improving my musicianship. I also feel it’s directly affected my bass playing; giving me a new perspective, and I think it helps me focus on the pocket and not overplaying.

 

I work in the medical biz. I haven't quarantined at all. My wife is in the medical biz. My kids shifted from attending school in person to attending a place that holds after school programs and Summer camps for school. They did their online work at that facility. So we got up and went to work/"school" from day one. We threw on a mask and kept right on moving.

None of us ever got it. (We were tested pretty frequently for both the virus and antibodies.) My wife and I are vaccinated now.

Other than not attending/playing concerts or parties, and restaurants briefly closing here, and wearing masks, pretty much there's no difference in my 2019 life and my 20/21 life.

My playing is unchanged. I had very little time to practice before COVID and have very little time to practice now. When I do, it's learning songs for my church or my band.

 

Our group's experience was a few gigs over summer 2020, which all dried up as the temps dropped in the fall. Now that it's getting nicer we have 12 gigs lined up late April through Sept.

As for my personal playing, I grabbed a pick and decided to add that to my wheelhouse on the bass. With arthritis in my hands getting worse this was a new approach that relieved the "playing pain" I had been dealing with. Instead of gigs over the winter I spent my weekend nights in my music room learning some new stuff. My mediocrity has elevated so that's a positive.

Our company provides cable, phone, and internet so with people moving to working from home we were in a unique position to see growth as people wanted "more" of everything in their house. I've not missed any time at work and through some periods worked more than ever before over the last year.

 

No, I still suck. LOL